1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector capable of collectively connecting terminals of a plurality of devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In some cases, a stacked body 103 is assembled by stacking a plurality of devices 102 such as substrates each including a terminal 101, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, thereby forming one equipment. A connector fitting portion 104 is formed on an end part of the stacked body 103 of the devices.
As shown in FIG. 10, the terminals 101 of the plurality of devices 102 can be collectively connected by a connector 201 by fitting the connector 201 into the connector fitting portion 104 of the stacked devices 103.
Since the connector fitting portion 104 of the stacked body 103 of the plurality of devices has a tolerance due to the stacking of the devices 102, the positions of the terminals deviate from design values. In the case of connecting the connector 201 to the devices by directly fitting the connector 201 into the connector fitting portion 102, the connector 201 needs to be fitted in consideration of the tolerance due to the stacking. Specifically, displacements of the terminals 101 of the connector fitting portion 102 due to the tolerance need to be absorbed by a certain means.
Conventionally, a method, for example, disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H11-299054 is known as a means for absorbing such displacements of the terminals between the connector 201 and the terminals 1011.
The method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H11-299054 is such that a connector housing is formed structurally separately from a main cover, the main cover is provided with an opening larger than the outer periphery of the connector housing, the connector housing is movably held in the opening by a flexible and scissible holding portion, a moving space for the connector housing larger than the height of tab terminals is formed between the connector housing and a wiring board and a connector portion is formed by passing the tab terminals into insertion holes of the connector housing after the holding portion is cut.
However, the connector disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H11-299054 is not connected to a connector fitting portion formed by stacking a plurality of devices. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H11-299054 discloses a basic configuration different from the one in the case of connecting the terminals of the stacked devices as shown in FIG. 10.
Conventionally, a tolerance in the case of stacking a plurality of devices as shown in FIG. 10 has been corrected by correcting displacements of the terminal positions on the stacked devices. However, it requires an extreme amount of time and effort to correct the tolerance on the device side, which leads to a cost increase.
Further, since the tolerance cannot be conventionally absorbed on the connector side, there has been a problem that it is impossible to fit the connector to the devices for connection to the terminals if the tolerance is insufficiently corrected on the device side.
An object of the present invention is to solve the above problem residing in the prior art and provide a connector which, when being fitted into a connector fitting portion formed by stacking a plurality of devices and connected to terminals of the devices, can be easily fitted into the connector fitting portion of the devices by absorbing a stacking tolerance of the devices and can reliably connect the terminals.